Parades
by LN8866
Summary: Thanksgiving fluff


A/N~Felt like writing some holiday fluff as we were approaching Thanksgiving. For those of you who don't know, in the US on Thanksgiving, Macy's (a department store in New York City) holds a gigantic parade with floats, balloons of cartoon figures and musical dance shows. At the end, signaling the beginning of the Christmas holiday, Santa arrives. Hope you enjoy my fluff...I think we need it!

Special thanks to Amanda & Noelle who kept my spirits up during the power outage! I love you girls soooooooooooooooooo much!

Thanks to Jameson for writing such wonderful pieces who distracted me from myself, even if just for 5 minutes. Thanks for all the support & understanding everyone gave me! Love you all!

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As Fiona bundled up infant Natalia and placed her in the baby carrier, Michael helped their four year old daughter Siobhan into her coat and hat. "We need to bundle up because its really cold out there today." he said as he put her mittens on and adjusted her hat. Finally they were ready to leave their hotel room.

In the elevator, Michael looked over at Fiona who was grinning ear to ear. "Its just a parade. We probably won't even get to see anything decent where we are." Michael told Fiona.

Fiona rolled her eyes at Michael. "Trust me, its different from seeing it on television."

As they descended from the fifteenth floor down to the lobby, Michael was very quiet and focused on the elevator doors, only smiling when Fiona took his hand, kissed his knuckles and then let go of his hand when Natalia began to fuss. Once the doors opened, he picked up Siobhan in his arms and made his way outside.

"Daddy, I can walk! Put me down!" Siobhan whined while squirming in Michael's arms.

"I know you can but I don't want you to get lost in the crowd. There are a lot of people outside and I want to keep you safe" Michael said. Grabbing Fiona's hand, he pulled her to the front of the crowd where they could get a decent view of the festivities.

As the parade got underway, Michael held tight to his daughter as he leaned over to give Natalia and Fiona a kiss. "Its been ages since I've been in the cold at Thanksgiving. I'm not used to November in New York." Michael said as he pulled Fiona closer to him, shielding them from the cold winds that whipped around them.

Fiona and Michael felt a jolt of fear when Siobhan let out a shrill scream. Once they realized her screams were happy ones, they both relaxed. "I see Snoopy! I see Snoopy!" she yelled over and over again.

"Snoopy looks far away right now, but he's going to seem super big when he passes by us. He'll be above our heads, so you'll have to look up as he passes by!" Fiona explained to Siobhan. Fiona began to smile broadly as she watched her child's face as the balloon neared them. She managed to catch a glimpse of Michael's face too, which looked just as excited as Siobhan's. Fiona stood with her infant nested against her chest as Michael and Siobhan got excited about balloon after balloon.

After Santa made his appearance at the parade, Fiona and Michael took their children and walked down the street to a local pub where they had lunch. After lunch, the children were tired, so they decided to head back to the hotel to rest and then they could walk around the city after a nap.

Once both children were fast asleep, Fiona sat down next to Michael on the couch. She noticed the distant look in his eyes. "Where are you?" she asked.

Michael took a few seconds and then answered softly "I'm here with my girls."

"I don't know what I loved more, seeing the parade today or watching you and Siobhan. It was like you had never seen the parade before." Fiona remarked.

"Would you believe me if I told you that was my first time?" Michael asked.

Fiona laughed. Then she realized that Michael was serious. His head was turned to the side. Fiona reached over and placed a palm on his face, making him turn his head towards her. He planted a small kiss in her palm. "Michael, you must have seen the parade before today. You and Nate never watched it as a child? I thought every American child watched the parade on Thanksgiving morning."

Michael shook his head and spoke softly, afraid of waking the children. "Nate and I were hiding from our father who was drunk by the time the parade came, sometimes we didn't have electric and one year my father threw the television outside because my mother yelled at him for turning off something she was watching. Holidays weren't very good at my house."

Over the past four years since Siobhan and Natalia had been born, Fiona learned more and more about how abusive Frank was to Michael, Maddie and Nate. She kissed Michael on the temple before resting her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him. She said "This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I gave you a happy holiday memory."

"I'm thankful that you love me, you gave me two perfect babies and you gave me the happy family I never had. I love you Mrs. Westen." he said as he kissed her on the top of her head.

"I love you too, Mr. Westen." Fiona said as she felt Michael's arms wrap around her, making her feel warm and safe as she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
